When we first started cruising, our medical kit consisted of a few bandaids for blisters or scrapes, and a big bottle of Tums. Fast forward 19 cruises and we have learned the hard way to be much more prepared! We now carry a smallish medical kit, and we keep it restocked so the items don’t expire. To be fair, the medical facility on board can probably dispense bandaids and intestinal distress pills, but twice I’ve needed something from them, and twice I went away empty handed.
The first time was years ago when I broke a tooth crown during lunch one day. I bit down on something hard, and the crown snapped off! I felt it happen, so thankfully I didn’t swallow the broken piece. We were in port at St. Thomas that day, and Mike and I had just returned from exploring the tourist village near the ship terminal. I went down to the medical facility and was summarily dismissed, being told, “We don’t work on teeth.” The person I spoke to never even looked at the tooth, and didn’t ask if I was in any pain. I remembered that there was a tiny pharmacy in port, and Mike debarked again and ran to see what he could find. He brought back Fixodent and Poligrip, in hopes that we could keep the tooth somewhat in place. Did I mention that the crown covered a FRONT tooth? And we were DAYS from home! If it had been a back tooth, I probably would have just handled it without denture cement, but this disaster was front and center. We later learned that the tooth the crown was covering also snapped off, so I ended up getting a dental implant. The emergency supplies Mike brought me worked okay, not great, for the rest of the trip, but I was grateful to have them! We later added a little container of tooth-repair stuff and a tube of Orajel to our kit when we got home. In case you were wondering, that’s why there are so many dental items in the pictures! Who would ever think something like that would happen? And what are the chances it happens again? But if it does, we’re more prepared!
Cruise vacations contain all types of potential medical situations that are no-brainers when you’re on dry land, but get more complicated off shore. If you eat something that violently disagrees with you at home, you stumble to the medicine cabinet or send a proxy to the corner store for fast, soothing relief. Cruise food is notorious for being different from the foods most people eat on a daily basis when they’re at home, not to mention, you tend to eat way more of it. You’re encouraged to try new things, but with that sense of adventure comes danger-foods that are too battered, too fried, too salted, oftentimes unidentifiable, and made with exotic spices that are a treat for your tongue! Your belly: not so much. Your gut reacts quickly, and swells up like a balloon to distance itself from the invading food. You start having that bloaty feeling, then suddenly you’re perspiring. You loosen your pants and fan yourself with whatever’s handy. You frantically scan the dining area looking for the nearest toilet, trying to calculate if you can make it because your body is moments away from purging – one way or another.
This scenario right here is why our medical kit comes in handy. Like I said earlier, at home it’s different. Manageable, somehow. Cruise life entices people to consume a lot of foods that are outside of any healthy diet recommendations – and you do this for days on end. Your body’s gonna rebel, so I say be ready!
Disclaimer here: this is the medical kit we’ve put together for ourselves over the years. Your kit may include totally different things, so I wouldn’t call everything in our kit “must” haves for everyone, and maybe we’re missing some essentials. This will just give you an idea of the types of things we carry as of now.
As you can see from the pictures, we don’t have large bottles of medications. We use the travel sized containers for things like Tums, Fisherman’s Friend cough drops, Blistex lip balm, Dramamine, Pepto type stomach relief tablets, Acetaminophen, Ibuprophen, Vaseline, Neosporin, a Vick’s inhaler, and itch creams. I suffer from sinus problems, so I bring a box of nasal decongestant pills and nasal spray. We also bring a box of Azo type urinary pain relief tabs, because if you’ve ever needed something like this and couldn’t get it right away…well, let’s just say we don’t want anyone, ever, having urinary tract pain when you’re three sea days from land. If you know, you know, so we carry a box.
We also carry a small sewing kit, the requisite bandaids in various sizes, some effervescent cold tablets and nighttime flu and cold relief. I see there’s also a random packet of Motrin there.
Not pictured includes a stick of aloe-based surfer’s balm sunburn rub that we picked up at the Walmart in Hawaii, and a small tube of sunscreen to hopefully prevent needing to use the surfer’s balm! Also not pictured was the last of the DayQuil/NyQuil gel-pills because I was suffering before I took these pics. Those need to be replenished stat!
The first-aid container was picked up on sale at WalMart for under $10. When I bought it, it had more first-aid type stuff in it, but it has morphed into what you see today. Plus, it is still holding up after over five years of use. I like that it has a firm outer shell, a zip closure, and big and small pockets inside. It measures approximately 6x8x2 inches, so it easily fits in our checked bag. We carry prescription meds in our carry on bag so those are always with us as we travel.
From time to time there may be other items added or subtracted, but that’s what the kit looks like today. It’s important to check regularly for expired medications and replenish as necessary. I also try to leave medications in the original boxes so border agents don’t have to wonder what’s up with a random baggie filled with pills!
Truthfully, most people probably could get by with a much smaller kit than we have – we just travel a lot and have learned to anticipate our likely needs.
If you’re in need, without a kit, and have joined the Facebook group for your cruise, usually someone will be happy to share. Otherwise, you’re typically not more than a day or two from a port pharmacy/apothecary, if you can wait. If you can’t wait, you might have better luck with the ship’s medical facility than I did.
I hope this gives you some ideas to put together or update your own kit! Good luck and stay safe!
